Spool rack



G. B. HUME SPOOL RACK March 11, I952 INVENTOR. flea/ye 5 flame HTTORN Filed June 15, 1949 BY I Q Patented Mar. 11, 1952 SPOOL RACK George B. Hume, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Hume Manufacturing Company, North=Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application June 15 1949, Serial No. 99,158

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a rack particularly adapted to support a plurality of spools or like articles disposing the same for easy accessibility when in an operative condition and capable of holding all of the spools supported thereby in a condition against accidental displacement when folded to an inoperative condition.

It is the most important object of the present invention to provide a rack for spoolsof thread of conventional character, the rack being provided with a frame that in turn swingably mounts a number of cross bars, each of which is in turn supplied with spool-receiving pins, the cross bars being so arranged and mounted as to swing the pins and the spools carried thereby to and from aposition within the frameand with the spools relatively superimposed where the same cannot move from the rack.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide in a spool rack of the kind just above set forth, means for gauging togetherall of the spool supporting bars for simul taneous swinging movement.

Other important objects of the present invention relate. to the way in which a supporting leg isprovided to hold the frame at an angle with respect to a supporting surface; the manner in which the spools are all in an upright condition when the frame is at an angle; the way in which the supporting leg is operably attached to the spool supporting bars to serve as an actuating member therefor; and the manner in which the individual rack sections are relatively disposed for rendering the same operable to hold adjacent spools against displacement when the rack is completely folded.

Other more minorobjects' will be made clear or become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a spool rack made in accordance with my present invention, showing the same in operative use.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view showing the rack collapsed.

Fig. 3 is a vertical, cross-sectional view taken on line III-III of Fig. 2 and .Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 2.

The rack about to be described, has been designed especially for receiving a plurality of spools of thread of the well-known character, but it. is understood that the principle, hereof might Well be applied to other articles of analogous character.

The primary purpose of the invention is to provide a handy, compact and neat appearing storage means for spools of thread that may be used in the home or even at a merchandise counter for'displaying the spools. Essentially the invention contemplates meeting the difficult problem of keeping a large number of spools of thread together in a neat manner, assuring that the spools will remain in place when the rack is not in use, and rendering said spools easily accessible when the rack is open and ready'for use.

In the drawing, there is shown a polygonal frame, broadly designated by the numeral Ill having a pair of spaced, substantially parallel side pieces I2 and I4 interconnected at the uppermost end thereof by an end piece It. The lowermost ends of the side pieces l2 and It may or may not be joined by an end piece I8 presenting a continuous polygonal frame.

The side pieces I2 and id have pivotally connected thereto a plurality of cross bars 20 of identical character. These cross bars 20 are provided with a pair of short, parallel arms 22 and 24 at the ends thereof. Each arm 22 and 24 is in turn provided with inturned ears 26 and 28 respectively that are substantially parallel with the bar 20, thereby presenting a substantially c-shaped spool supporting member.

The inturned cars 26 and 28 are pivotally secured in openings provided in the side pieces I2 and M respectively. The length of the bars 20 is slightly greater than the distance between the outermost faces of the side pieces I2 and I4 and the ears 26 and 28 extend inwardly through the side pieces I2 and M.

The plurality of cross bars 20 are uniformly spaced throughout the length of the frame pieces I2-and I4 and are "ganged together for simultaneous swinging movement on the frame ID by an elongated link 30.

Link 30 is disposed adjacent the arms 22 in edge to edge relationship with respect to the proximal edge of side piece I 2. A plurality of openings 32 are provided in the link 30 for pivotally receiving the cross bars 20. Link 30 is guided through its path of travel by a pair of spaced plates 34 and 36 mounted on opposed faces of the frame piece I2 and extending latervva'llyto slidably embrace the link 30. Each cross bar' 2fl-is provided with a number af upstanding pins 38 rigidly secured thereto and spaced apart a distance to freely receive a spool of thread 40.

Spools 4!! are of conventional character in that the same have a central bore 42 therethrough and spools 40 are free to rotate on the pins 38 with the lowermost ends thereof resting directly upon the corresponding bar 20.

Actuating means for the bars 20 includes a member having a pair of legs 44 and 46 interconnected at the lowermost end thereof by a cross member 48 and having lateral extensions 50 and 52 respectively at the uppermost ends thereof. The extensions 50 and 52 are joined directly to the uppermost cross bar 20 and to the uppermost ears 26 and 28 adjacent the point of merger between extensions 50 and 52 and their corresponding legs 44 and 46.

- It is seen that the extensions 50 and 52 are both within the frame and accordingly the distance between the legs 44 and 46 is less than the distance between the frame pieces l2 and I4.

When the support is in use in the manner shown in Fig. 1, the legs 44 and 46 support the frame ID at an angle with respect to a supporting surface for the rack. When the support is in said operative condition, all of the pins 38 are substantially vertical and have their uppermost ends swung outwardly with respect to frame I 0 and with respect to adjacent cross bars 26.

Accordingly, all of the spools of thread 40 are in a position where the same may be easily removed or replaced upon their respective pins 38. Since spools 40 freely rotate on pins 38, the user may merely grasp the thread desired and pull off the desired length without removal of the spool itself.

When it is desired to store the rack during non-use thereof, the operator merely grasps the legs 44 or 46 or the cross member 48 and swings the same inwardly toward the frame [0 to a position where both legs 44 and 46 and the cross member 48 are embraced by the continuous frame I. In this condition, the two legs 44 and 46 are disposed along the innermost faces of frame pieces I! and I4 and in parallelism therewith. Inward movement of the legs 44 and 46 is limited by the inturned ears 26 and 28. Conversely. outward movement of the legs 44 and 46 is limited by the link 30 contacting the proximal edge of the frame piece I2.

When the rack is in the folded condition, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the spools 40 will all be substantially in vertical superimposed alignment. The uppermost ends of the pins 38 comprising the top row thereof, will be swung to a position where the spools 40 thereon will underlie the end piece l of frame l0. Only limited upward movement of such uppermost spools is possible before the same contact the end piece l6 and accordingly, such spools 40 cannot become displaced from the rack. In the same manner, all of the pins 38 below the uppermost cross bar 20, will-be in alignment with cross bars 20 next above. Here again, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the spools 40 cannot move upwardly to a point of disengagement with their pins 38 because of contact with proximal cross bars 20.

A relatively tight fit in any one of the moving parts of the rack ,will assure that the same will remain in either the fully collapsed condition or the open operative position as desired. To this end, the plates 34 and 36 may frictionally grip the link 30 and the legs 44 and 46 may snugly fit between the frame pieces 12 and I4.

It is seen from the foregoing that thread of many colors may be displayed either for purposes of merchandising or for a seamstress, and that the thread of each spool is readily accessible for use as desired. The seamstress need not be concerned about displacement of any spool since the entire rack can be conveniently stored in a relatively small space and the individual spools thereof cannot move from the rack when the same is in a collapsed condition.

Obviously, the rack is easily and inexpensively manufactured, it can be easily packed for shipment and is relatively light in weight. The number of spools to be mounted on the rack is entirely within the discretion of the manufacturer since more or less bars 20 may be provided than that herein chosen for illustration. By the same token, the lengths of the pins 38 and the distances between the cross bars 20 can be varied to accommodate larger or smaller spools.

These and many other modifications are within the spirit of this invention and it is, therefore. desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A spool rack comprising a frame including a pair of spaced-apart sides; a plurality of spaced-apart c-shaped members carried by the frame and each including a cross-bar, a pair of spaced arms and a pair of opposed ears, each ear being pivotally mounted in a respective side of said frame; a plurality of spool-receiving pins on each cross-bar respectively and perpendicular thereto; and an elongated link pivotally receiving all of said cross-bars to gang the members together for simultaneous swinging movement with respect to the frame.

2. A spool rack comprising a frame including a pair of spaced-apart sides; a plurality of spaced-apart C-shaped members carried by the frame and each including a cross-bar, a pair of spaced arms and a pair of opposed ears, each ear being pivotally mounted in a respective side of said frame; a plurality of spool-receiving pins on each cross-bar respectively and perpendicular thereto; an elongated link pivotally receiving all of said cross-bars to gang the members together for simultaneous swinging movement with respect to the frame; and a guide means on one of said sides, slidably engaging said link for restraining the latter to a path of travel to and from a point of edge-to-edge engagement with the said one side.

3. A spool rack comprising a frame including a pair of spaced-apart sides; a plurality of spaced-apart C-shaped members carried by the frame and each including a cross-bar, a pair of spaced arms and a pair of opposed ears, each ear being pivotally mounted in a respective side of said frame; a plurality of spool-receiving pins on each cross-bar respectively and perpendicular thereto; an elongated link pivotally receiving all of said cross-bars to gang the members together for simultaneous swinging movement with respect to the frame; and a U-shaped frame support for swinging said members. each leg of the support having an extension connected with a respective ear and the cross-bar of one of said members.

4. A spool rack comprising a frame including a pair of spaced-apart sides; a plurality of spaced-apart C-shaped members carried by the frame and each including a cross-bar, a pair of spaced arms and a pair of opposed ears, each ear being pivotally mounted in a respective side of said frame; a plurality of spool-receiving pins on each cross-bar respectively and perpendicular thereto; an elongated link pivotally receiving all of said cross-bars to gang the members together for simultaneous swinging movement with re- 5 spect to the frame; and a U-shaped frame support for swinging said members, each leg of the support having an extension connected with a, respective ear and the cross-bar of one of said members, the distance between said legs and the distance between said extensions being less than the distance between said sides of the frame whereby the said legs are embraced by the frame when the member is at one end of its path of travel.

GEORGE B. HUME.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS 

